Fertiliser dealer arrested for black marketing 6,429 urea bags in Siddipet

A fertiliser dealer in Cheriyal was arrested for allegedly black marketing 6,429 urea bags using fake farmers' Aadhaar details and pattadar passbooks. The Agriculture Department suspended a mandal officer and cancelled the licences of three fertiliser dealers in connection with the case.

Siddipet: While farmers were struggling to get even a bag of urea after trying to book the fertiliser on the mobile app, a fertiliser shop owner in Cheriyal allegedly sold 6,429 urea bags in the black market. Sandeep Reddy, the owner of Sri Shiva Sai Fertiliser Sales Shop in Cheriyal, was arrested on charges of selling the urea bags in the black market. Reddy had borrowed these urea bags from Sri Anjaneya Fertilisers and Sri Ganesh Traders, wholesale traders in Siddipet town.

Meanwhile, the Agriculture Department suspended the Mandal Agriculture Officer of Cheriyal, Bogeshwara Swamy, for negligence in monitoring the sale of urea in his jurisdiction. The Agriculture Department officials also suspended the licences of Sri Shiva Sai Fertiliser Sales Shop, Sri Anjaneya Fertilisers and Sri Ganesh Traders in Siddipet. The matter came to light due to a serious shortage of urea in Cheriyal. Even though farmers had booked urea through the fertiliser booking app, the shop owner could not supply it to them. When officials inspected the shop, they found no stock in the godown. During an inquiry by District Agriculture Officer Swaroopa Rani, it was found that the urea bags had been sold in the black market.

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In a press statement on Thursday, Collector K Hymavathi said that the accused had booked the urea bags using the e-pass machine with fake farmers’ Aadhaar numbers and pattadar passbooks. Since the fertiliser booking app was inactive during April, May and June, the Collector said that Sandeep chose to book the urea through e-pass machines. She said that the State government would disable the app during the off-season. However, the Collector said that the State government could not disable bookings through the e-pass machine since it was under the control of the Centre.

Hymavathi said that the black marketing of subsidised urea would come under the provisions of the Essential Commodities Act. She said that stern action would be taken against anyone found selling fertiliser in the black market.